Lincoln-Sudbury regains Level 1 rating

SUDBURY – Lincoln-Sudbury High School is once again rated Level 1, four years after the state downgraded the regional school to Level 2 based on a new assessment model.

The state rates schools based on how much the standardized test scores of its students improve every year, with a special focus on the performance of high-needs students, such as low-income students and English language learners.

“We are extremely proud of our students for their hard work and appreciate the long-standing dedicated efforts of the district’s faculty and staff to support this outcome,” Principal Bella Wong said in an email.

The state rolled out a new MCAS assessment last school year for middle and elementary schools. The "next generation" MCAS will begin at high schools in spring 2019.

In spring 2017, 98 percent of Lincoln-Sudbury’s 10th grade students scored proficient or advanced on the MCAS test for English language arts, while 96 percent scored proficient or advanced on the math test.

But gaps remain: for example, while 71 percent of white students scored advanced on the English test, and 26 percent scored proficient, only 28 percent of black students scored advanced, and 72 percent score proficient.

Economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities also scored worse than the school average. But Lincoln-Sudbury met its goals for improvement among those groups, helping it earn the Level 1 rating.

“We’re very happy and we’re very proud with what the leadership, the administration and the faculty has been able to do,” said Kevin Matthews, chairman of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee.

In 2012, Massachusetts received a waiver from a federal law that had required states to set a goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014. Instead, the state sought to cut proficiency gaps in half by 2017. Schools are now assessed on their progress.

After Lincoln-Sudbury was downgraded to Level 2 in 2013, school officials stepped up efforts to ensure all students were able to improve their performance every year, Wong said in an interview. Poor scores from students with disabilities were the school's main issue at the time, but have since been improved, she said.

Most middle and elementary schools were not given a rating this year because of the new MCAS test. As of last year, around 30 percent of Massachusetts schools that received ratings were classified as Level 1.